Adventures in Ireland

Our morning started out great, with Margaret, the delightful B&B proprietor, treating us to fresh fruit salad with honeycomb yogurt, followed by poached eggs on toast for breakfast.  The eggs were fresh from the hens roosting in her backyard.

As they say in Scotland…..BRILLIANT!

Margaret was a real character, but, for the first time in my Scottish travels, I had difficulty understanding the language.  She spoke with a really unusual accent, but I'm not complaining, because somehow, through the course of the conversation, she decided to offer us the upgraded room at no extra charge. We had been perfectly content with our original reservation, but she insisted that we take the larger, more comfortable room.

Now…..how nice was that?  

You may be wondering what sparked our interest in traveling to Ireland.  The answer is a simple one:  genealogy.  Most of you know that I love researching family history, and, as it turns out, Marty has Irish blood in him.

Marty's great grandmother was Mary Harvey who was born in Frosses, just a short distance from Donegal Town, near where we are staying. Several years ago,  I had received the name and address of a woman named Annie Burke (nee Harvey).  She actually lives on the Harvey homestead.  She was delighted to hear from me, and we have been corresponding since.  Annie is actually Mary Harvey's first cousin, the perfect person to fill me in on the Harvey genealogy.

But, Annie is in her 90's, and Marty and I knew that if we wanted to meet her, we'd have to make the opportunity, so I set up this trip.  Annie has been frail, and, as it turned out, we received an e-mail this morning telling us that she was in the hospital.

But, the trip was already set up, so we decided to continue as planned and hopefully get to visit Annie in the hospital.  So, we packed up the car and got ready for our adventure.

As I mentioned, it was super easy finding the P&O ferry entrance. We arrived the required 45 minutes early, boarded and left promptly at 10:30, our scheduled departure time.

We had been concerned about sea sickness, but the ferry is like a luxury liner on the inside.  

You can see how beautiful the day was as we passed one lighthouse on the right

then another on the left.  

It took just about 2 hours for the journey, but with comfy seats by the window, and relatively calm seas, the time went by quicker than I had expected.

We approached the port of Larne, on the east coast of Ireland.

And then we watched the front part of the ferry rise up, so that the vehicles could just drive straight out onto the road.

Isn't modern technology awesome?  I never realized that traveling from Scotland to Ireland could be so entertaining.....and easy, for that matter.

Once in Ireland, though,  I was a bit surprised by the aggressiveness of the drivers. We hadn't seen that kind of craziness while traveling through Scotland!  It certainly takes some getting used to.

And, another point of interest to me, of which I had been unaware, is that some people in the western part of County Donegal speak Irish.  And, if you thought that Irish was actually English as I did then  you should know that it is actually a form of a Celtic language.  Many of the road signs here are written in Irish (which definitely explained our difficulty finding the location of our B&B, Ard na Breathe).

Here's just one example of the same town listed in Irish and in English.

Now, perhaps my blog followers will comment that they knew that these were two different languages, just like so many knew about Dolly the sheep and her namesake.  But, I was completely unaware of this language difference, and I certainly felt that it was worth sharing to those of you who just might have not known.

Our B&B, once we found it, proved to be delightful.

Here's the view from our bedroom window

 

We settled into our room, then decided to walk into town for dinner.  (Definitely safer than driving)

We passed the castle, which we'll probably tour tomorrow.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't post this lovely photo of a church all lit up in the town.

We decided to try the Castle Bar for dinner, which certainly had some entertaining wall decor.

And,  more importantly, the meal was Fabulous!

But the most entertaining part of the evening was the obvious excitement of the clientele in the bar at seeing white smoke on the tellie.  It was the buzz of the night, with the head waiter so excited to share the news that white smoke had been seen at the vatican.  There was a new Pope!  

Who knew that there would be so many religious enthusiasts in the pub? Wouldn't it be great if the average Irish driver was thinking about religion while driving down the road?  Perhaps it would be a lot less stressful!!

Scottish Coastal Beauty

Once again, I was treated to a fabulous breakfast at the B&B:

 Eggs Florentine

And, a lovely latte.

You're drooling, aren't you?  Well, you should be....'cause both were FABulous!

But, it was time to move on, so we checked out of Brambles in Inveraray and began our journey south, back through the Trossachs along Loch Lomond, and down the coast.

But first I managed to capture this photo of Inveraray Castle from the road.

I still can't get over how beautiful it is.

We had planned to stop at Ayr (pronounced Ear), but the traffic was crazy, and to be quite honest with you, we had no idea where we were going.  And, once on the road south, we both decided that we were perfectly content to keep on going.

Our plans were to head to Culzean (pronounced Coo-lane) Castle, which stands majestically right next to the coast.  I had the map, Marty followed my directions, and we arrived without issue.  

The castle is actually closed until April, but 600 acres of woodlands are open to visit year round.

We drove down the long lane to the parking lot, and were immediately entertained by the numerous lambs that were laying in the sun out in the field adjacent to the parking lot.  You'd think by now that seeing them would be second nature to us, but we both get such a kick out of watching them romp and jump around.  At one point, one little lamb couldn't find his mama and he kept turning around, bleating, over and over again.  Poor little thing!

We managed to pull ourselves away from this entertainment, and headed towards the castle, which stands along the shore.

The grandeur was pretty amazing.  The castle was originally owned by the Kennedy clan, but in 1945, it was purchased by the National Trust of Scotland, and, at that time, the top floor was renovated into a large flat, which was bequeathed to President Eisenhower as a gesture for America's support during the war.  He apparently stayed in the castle on four separate occasions, once while President of the United States.

And, if you are interested, you can actually rent out the flat for your own holiday.  I can't even imagine what that would cost you!  Plus, you'd have to deal with pesky tourists tromping around.

The view of the Isle of Arran was highlighted by the sun shining on it when I took this photo.

You can see the snow peaks in the distance.

We walked along the grounds, admiring the castle from a distance.

I took a shot of Marty standing next to this cannon.

Doesn't it look like someone is going to shoot right at you when you look at it?

Our walk took us to a Swan pond....

and through the woods we spotted Snowdrops, which are in bloom here in February and March.

While walking back to our car, we were surprised to see deer romping around the fields.  

We stopped in the bookstore for a 'cuppa' tea and had a lovely chat with the volunteer couple in the place.  It turns out that their son lives in Lewistown, PA, just about an hour north of Harrisburg.  He married an American girl, and ended up moving to the US.  

After enjoying our hot beverage to warm us up, we jumped in the car....me with the atlas and directions, and Marty behind the wheel.  The drive was phenomenal......kind of like driving along the Oregon coast, but the road is closer to the water.   The roads here in Scotland are much narrower, and sharing them with semi's (called Lorries here in Scotland) can be a bit nail-biting, to say the least.

And it doesn't help when the Grouse seem to think that it's perfectly acceptable to amble right onto the highway as if they don't have a worry in the world.  They are certainly beautiful birds, and easy to spot, but we still had two near misses, and saw several casualties along the road.  Makes you wonder just how one became famous on a whiskey bottle.  (The Famous Grouse whiskey is big here in Scotland....just in case you didn't know.)  And, considering that they are obviously fairly brainless, it makes you wonder why anyone would want to drink that brand of whiskey!

We found our B&B easily enough and had to laugh when we realized just how close it is to the P&O ferry that we are scheduled to take tomorrow to Ireland.  

Here's the view from our bedroom

We just have to drive out of the lot here, cross the street, and get in the queue for the ferry.  It doesn't get much easier than that.

In the meantime, Margaret, who owns the B&B, suggested that we dine at the Bay House Restaurant a few miles down the road.

The sunset over the water was beautiful.

And Marty enjoyed a fabulous Fish Pie with a Belhaven Best for dinner.  (Today was his birthday, and I'd say that he had a pretty grand time!)

And tomorrow we head across the water to Ireland for the much anticipated visit of the Harvey clan in County Donegal. 

Now this should REALLY be an adventure!

Sunny, but BRRRR!! in Inveraray

We awoke to bright blue skies today for a change!   So, we decided to take the Dun na Cuiach walk while the weather still seemed promising. 

Then we checked the temperature.  When I saw that it was zero degrees, with an expected high of 2 with (-)1 wind chill factor, I wondered if it was such a good idea to be climbing a mountain.

But, then I realized that the temp prediction was in degree C,  and the sun was shining, so why not give it a try?

So,  after an amazing breakfast of Eggs Benedict (included in the room rate…..so, wi-fi in the room doesn’t work, but breakfast was awesome!), 

we bundled up and headed out for the Dun na Cuaich walk.  "Just follow the signs" , the visitor center attendant had told us.  They’ll be marked with a blue arrow.

One look across the loch and I knew that we were in for a clear weather treat today!

Isn't the blue hue of the Loch just lovely?

On the way to the first placard, we stopped to get a photo of me in front of the castle since it looks so much better on a sunny day.

We easily spotted the trail sign

And, our intended destination

See that round building at the very tip of the mountain?  Well, thats the Dun na Craich.  Wish I could tell you more about it.  A very friendly gentleman told us that the building had been built ages ago by the Duke of Argyll strictly for the purpose of viewing the area.  About the name.....sorry...haven't figured that one out yet.  But, obviously, we had a wee bit of a challenge ahead of us.

We followed the direction of the arrow...... across a field....... through a gate....... and soon found ourselves on a path , traveling uphill for a LONG time.

Marty kept saying, “I think we’re almost at the top”, but that sounded all too familiar to me.  I decided to ignore him and just take in the beauty of the hike.

The climb was pretty steep, and there were traces of ice and snow on the trail, but the only difficulty that I had was maneuvering the many rocks that made up the trail.  But we just took the hike at a leisurely pace, stopping to admire the scenery along the way.

From this vantage point, we were able to watch a group of sheep, far in the distance, being herded by a dog.  At first, I was curious as to why this group of sheep was running around, together, in circles, then we saw the dog, and realized what was happening.

We continued climbing.....and.....finally!   We were at the top!

 Somehow I managed to climb up into the tower for the view.

 But with the wind whipping, and the lack of sunlight inside, it was much easier to stand outside and take in all of this magnificence.

I zoomed in on the castle

And the town of Inveraray

which looked so tiny, jutting out on that peninsula.

Marty took a couple of shots of us with the castle in the background.

(It's just to the left of the top of my head.)  

Then, we headed back down the trail into town where we stopped for afternoon tea.

On our way back to the hotel, we walked around a bit.  We saw the bell tower that still stands in the town next to the  Scottish Episcopal Church. 

It apparently holds the second heaviest set of bells in all of Scotland.  (Sometimes I think that the Scots come up with crazy facts just to make places seem to be appealing.)

Then, we popped into a couple of shops, and of course, Marty couldn’t pass on the local Whiskey Shop.

And when that guy offered him a taste……how could he refuse?

We were certainly lucky that the sun held out, but the cold was brutal.  Here’s hoping that tomorrow warms up a bit!  

We will be heading south. 

Do you think that will help?  Here's hoping......

A Downton Abbey Holiday

So, does this look familiar?

If you're a Downton Abbey fan,  then this should be familiar from the last episode.  Well, how's this for excitement......   we are staying a stone’s throw from that beautiful castle.  Can’t wait to get out and explore the area tomorrow! 

But first, let me share the exciting adventures in getting here.  (You knew that there would have to be some sort of excitement involved, right?)

  

We awoke to bright sky in the distance, but large snowflakes gently falling outside the window.  It certainly seemed an odd combination, but, really, it was far better than the rain…….or at least we thought it was!  And it looked so lovely.

Although there was a Catholic Church just a few blocks from our B&B, we chose to drive back to Doune to attend the 9:45 a.m. service there, because the one in Callandar was scheduled for 11:30, and we wanted to have a jump on the day.

Well, it turns out that the same priest covers both churches, and a third in Killin, which is really a bit of a drive.  Today there was a collection for S.C.I.A.F which supports missions in Africa.  The priest mentioned that a quarter of the monies received generally go to the bishop and the pope.  He then went on to say,  “Well, we’ve got no bishop (due to the recent scandal that I mentioned earlier in the week), and we’ve got no pope (due to Benedict resigning), so I decided that all of the money would go to the missions.”  Couldn’t help but laugh at that admission.

What was really entertaining was the unique way that this parish collects funds for this charity.  In the back of the church, they set up fine china teacups, bring in coffee and tea and home made baked goods, and after mass, they accept a free will offering for a cup of tea or coffee and a sweet.   Due to the parking situation in the lot where people just park in rows, we found ourselves with nowhere to go but back inside to join the locals. 

Of course, they were curious about us, and wanted to know where we were from.  On this trip, people generally presume that we are Canadian.  In fact, a woman at the zoo was surprised to hear that I was from the U.S.  She said that I had such a lovely, genteel accent.   How nice was that? 

After some interesting conversations, we headed to our car, bracing ourselves for the bitter cold wind and the snowflakes that were slowly falling.  

We were traveling on the edge of the Trossachs, and it soon became obvious that we had been in the midst of some amazing mountains, but the snow-capped tops had blended in with the mist, so we never knew!

The drive through this area was amazing.

Snow capped mountains in the background…sheep grazing in the fields along the road, and every now and then, we’d see an escapee munching on the grass right along the side of the road…..because you know that old adage…….  The grass is always greener on the other side!   But some were certainly risking their lives for tastier fare.

It wasn’t long before it became quite obvious that we were driving in and out of travelling snowstorms.  One minute, I’d see a beautiful snow capped mountain, Marty would pull over, and the top would be gone in a white haze.  It actually became quite comical after awhile because we felt like we were literally being followed by a cloud.

We stopped at the Falls at Dochart, and suddenly, the snow really began falling, making for quite a picturesque scene.

Doesn’t it look like a painting?  Can you see the snowflakes? 

Pretty amazing, don’t you think?

By this point, we found the weather situation to be rather amusing, and it actually became a joke with us as to whether or not we’d actually get to see the spectacular sights.  More than once we commented that we were sure that the views were amazing…….had we been able to see them!

We stopped in Invernan, at the Drover’s Inn, which is a hotel/pub that has been in existence for centuries.  

We decided on some tea and scones while taking in the interesting surroundings.

All I have to say is that you better not complain about the food!

……..back in the car…… and in just a few minutes, we found ourselves on the “bonny bonny banks of Loch Lomond”.   At least, at first glimpse they appeared to be bonny.   The road was narrow, with nowhere to pull of, but we came to an information center with a parking lot.  Marty parked, we jumped out of the car, and within seconds, the view had disappeared.

Here you can see Marty with the Loch in the background.

Well....at least you can see Marty.

We were on our way back to the car when the sun suddenly poked through the sky, and we scurried back to the viewpoint to capture the moment before it disappeared again.

To the right of the parking lot stands an amazing power plant, with a lovely mountain behind it.

Well, looking at that photo, I suppose that you’ll just have to take my word on that one.

Feeling bonny to have been able to catch a glimpse in between snow squalls,  we  jumped into the car continued on our way to our destination.

The snow seemed to be at bay for awhile, and we were able to really enjoy the beauty of the Argyll forest.  I took this photo from a stop on the side of the road.

And this one at a stop light on the road 

which was there because the road was down to one lane due to rocks tumbling down the cliff, and repairs being made to prevent further damage.

Soon we were  on the edge of Loch Fyne headed towards Inveraray.

Our hotel is located right on this street.  Marty dropped me off so that I could check in and find out where to park the car.  Within minutes, a woman behind the counter looked out the window and commented on the heavy snow that was falling outside.

I told her that she could thank us for that, because we had obviously brought the white stuff with us.

They still welcomed us, and I was taken to the top floor of the building to this lovely room.

The room is great, but, unfortunately, does not have the wi-fi connection that was promised.  So, I will have to post the blog from the breakfast room because all attempts at connecting up here have failed.

In the meantime, after unloading our bags, we decided to head out and investigate the surroundings while the snow was NOT falling.

The area is truly lovely, located right on the Loch.

But the best part of the day was walking just a short distance to find this castle, which actually, can be seen off the road while entering the town.

Certainly a nice place to take a holiday, don’t you think?  Unfortunately, it is closed for viewing  until April.  But that didn’t keep us from checking out the surroundings.

We walked around to the back of the castle where you can see the bridge that we crossed to get here in the distance.

The weather was still brutally cold, so we decided to call it a day, and we headed to the George hotel, which is just across the street, for a lovely dinner, next to the fire.

The fire was cozy warm, and the meal was delicious. 

The perfect ending to a wonderful day!